After an integrated circuit package is manufactured, it must be tested to determine if it works electrically and electronically. Integrated circuit test fixtures typically have a contact set comprising aplurality of contact strips that extend upwardly from a base member and comprise the leads which connect the leads of the package to electrical testing equipment in the test apparatus. Typically, the strips have free ends which are bent to form flat contact areas. A ram picks up an integrated circuit package and places it in test registration against the contact areas of the contact strips, thereby connecting the integrated circuit to the testing equipment and allowing the test to be performed.
The prior integrated circuit testers have a number of deficiencies. In some of these, the contact strips in the contact sets used in the fixtures must be individually aligned, which is a difficult and time-consuming operation requiring skilled personnel. If a single strip breaks or is bent out of the test registration position, the entire alignment operation must be performed. As a result of the configuration of the contact strips, that is, cantilevered upwardly and with a bend at the tip where contact is made, and the forces of contact caused by the ram, the lifetime of the contact strips is relatively short, and so the lengthy repair operation noted above must be performed relatively often. In addition, if it is desired to test packages having differing lead configurations, the lengthy replacement process must be performed to provide contact sets having the correct orientations. Furthermore, the contact strips in the contact sets in prior test fixtures typically have relatively long lengths, which, in turn, causes them to have relatively high capacitances and inductances thereby limiting their high-frequency test capability.